City buys historic Saint-Jean-Baptiste church building

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Nearly 140 years after it opened its doors to worshippers and nearly 10 years after those doors closed, Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste, one of Quebec City’s most distinctive religious landmarks, may reopen soon following the city’s purchase of the building on Rue Saint-Jean.

On Sept. 9, Mayor Bruno Marchand and executive committee member and local Coun. Mélissa Coulombe-Leduc announced the acquisition, for $175,000, of the monumental church, in the square in front of the building which is often used for cultural events. Marchand said Saint-Jean- Baptiste is one of eight religious structures the city is committed to preserving, following recommendations in a 2018 study led by former Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec (MNBAQ) head John Porter. He said saving the churches was among his party’s election promises.

The other churches are the Notre-Dame de Québec Basilica-Cathedral in Old Quebec; the Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, also in Old Quebec; Église de La Nativité de Notre-Dame (Beauport); Église Saint-Charles-Borromée (Charlesbourg); Église Saint- Roch, Église Saint-Sauveur and Église Saint-Charles-de-Limoilou. Saint-Jean-Baptiste is the only one of the eight churches currently unoccupied.

Coulombe-Leduc said the city is awaiting the results of a study by consultants to evaluate the investments required to convert the structure for new functions, already identified as “community, touristic and cultural.” She said, “There is enough space for the three to exist together.”

The estimate of the overall cost to repair and maintain the structure is $34 million over 15 years, Coulombe-Leduc said. The city would be the owner of the building, but the provincial and federal governments would contribute to the project. She said she already has assurances from Québec MP Jean-Yves Duclos that the federal government would be involved.

Coulombe-Leduc said she wants there to be at least temporary activity in the building “as soon as possible” while the details of a development plan are settled. “It is not a good thing for a heritage building to be unoccupied,” she said.

She said the overall structure of the building “is very good” and the windows and roof are in good condition. The parish has managed to do renovations over the years since the church ceased to be a place of worship in 2015. The building has had a heritage designation since 1991.

No one from the Saint-Jean-Baptiste parish council, which still oversees the maintenance of the church, spoke at the press conference or was immediately available to comment.